


eye to eye closer

by jaekinlittle



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Author Is Sleep Deprived, Childhood Friends, F/F, Fluff, Getting Together, How Do I Tag, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Making Out, Mark Lee (NCT) is Whipped, Pride, nct is gay, wish i could say no beta we die like men but i'm weak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:33:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24681604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaekinlittle/pseuds/jaekinlittle
Summary: “it’s been how many years canada and you’re still trying to get away from me? i’m offended.”“it’s canada hyung to you, don’t think i’ve forgotten donghyuck-ah.”orwhere mark goes to pride in korea for the first time, to support his recently out co-worker, jungwoo. what happens when he finds one of his (least) favourite underclassmen from high school there
Relationships: Ha Sooyoung | Yves/Kim Jiwoo | Chuu, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 231





	eye to eye closer

**Author's Note:**

> title from the english translation of tiger eyes by lovelyz’s ryu sujeong. (stan lovelyz)

mark has lived in south korea since his freshman year of high school, yet some things never fail to give him a culture shock. 

sure, in canada, people were homophobic and outright rude to people of the lgbtq+ community, but, being gay in canada is much easier than being gay in south korea. 

for one, gay marriage is actually legal in canada, and korea is a bit behind on the rest of the world on that one. 

but the blatant homophobia in the media and the casual homophobia between friends never fails to surprise mark. 

for a country where beauty standards favour a feminine guy and normalise ‘skinship’ between close friends of the same gender, the homophobia is almost hypocritical, except, not at all. 

“you don’t have to come with me if you feel uncomfortable” mark shakes his head at jungwoo, who obviously assumes that the thought being around that many gay people is making mark uncomfortable. 

“it’s okay woo, i’m not doing this because everyone else couldn’t, i’m doing it because i want to be there for you, this isn’t easy.” especially here

mark wonders if this is a good opportunity to tell the elder that he is also a flaming homosexual, although the anxiety creeps up faster than the words can reach his tongue. 

it’s not that he doesn’t trust jungwoo, he just has never had to ‘come out’ before, even thinking about it brings the anxiety rushing. the canadian’s parents found out he wasn’t straight when they walked in on him and his childhood friend, kevin, kissing. (they were thirteen and confused)

as he got older, it just made sense that he was gay, and had been the entire time. girls never seemed attractive to him, and even though he got called a ‘ladies man’ growing up he just considered them all friends. 

he even had a musical theatre phase, he couldn’t be any gayer. 

except maybe he could, because he had gotten a bit too good at the whole straight-no-homo-bro act that all his co-workers were sending him on blind dates with girls and his gay friends sometimes seemed intimidated to talk to him about it. 

jungwoo had recently come out to their friend group at work and a week or so later asked if anyone could come with him to his first pride. some of the group had plans, others straight out didn’t want to go, and it kinda seemed like mark was the only option left, but he didn’t seem mad about it. 

having to come out was scary, but having to come out in korea was much scarier. 

they were both dressed pretty casually for pride, mark wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a bomber jacket, accentuating the dude-bro act. jungwoo worse high-waisted jeans with a crop top that had ‘BOYS’ written in bold with many rainbows, but still, pretty casual for pride. 

it had already started when they got there, but jungwoo dragged mark by his arm with all his enthusiasm into the heart of the march. 

even though he was closeted, he still felt at peace with people he could relate to. 

“you guys make a cute couple.” mark looked to his left and saw a lesbian couple staring at them with bright smiles, he could practically see the stars shining in their eyes. 

because they feel as if they are home. 

“oh no, we aren’t dating, mark here is painfully straight,” mark cringed within himself hearing that, “and i like someone else. he is just here to support me!” 

oh... jungwoo had the same look in his eyes, the same stars. 

“well then,, allies are always welcome.” 

welcome ,,, am i really welcome ?

as a couple hours passed, mark and jungwoo got pretty close with the two girls, who they now knew as jiwoo and sooyoung and found out they’ve been dating for 4 years but have only recently been public about it. 

when the other three are in a passionate conversation, mark starts to zone out. he wondered if he would be happier if he was out, or at least didn’t act so straight, but those thoughts came to a halt when he heard a yell, almost directed at him. 

“canada?? is that you?” mark’s eyes went wide, only one person would ever call him canada. 

mark turned around and saw him. now that’s what mark would consider dressed for pride, he had the full shebang. rainbow face paint, crop top, short shorts, rainbow doc martins and of course, the stars in his eyes. mark hasn’t seen him since graduation but he feels as if he has known him this whole time. 

“i never did get rid of the donghyuck curse huh.” mark says, almost to himself, but the younger still hears. it was almost a running joke in high school that mark had the donghyuck curse, no matter what happened, if there was a chance for mark to be near or with donghyuck, mark would be near or with donghyuck. 

“it’s been how many years canada and you’re still trying to get away from me? i’m offended.” 

“it’s canada hyung to you, don’t think i’ve forgotten donghyuck-ah.” the smile on mark’s face completely contrasts with the words he says. 

“i see you haven’t changed much, hyung.” mark signalled donghyuck to come closer to their small group. 

“neither have you hyuck.” donghyuck gleamed up at his hyung. 

a couple of coughs interrupted the pair catching up. 

“oh shit yeah uhmm,” mark was brought back down to earth, “this is donghyuck, uh we went to school together and, uh, yeah it’s been a while.” 

mark felt a hand patting his back, comforting him. he still knows me. 

“hi i’m jungwoo, i work with mark and i’m the one who dragged him here, he is too nice sometimes. oh and this is jiwoo and sooyoung but we both only met them today.” jungwoo’s charms never seem to stop flowing. 

“i hope mark here didn’t pull you away from your friends.” jiwoo stated with a bright smile, one that sooyoung couldn’t help but stare at. 

“oh no, they ditched me for some cute guy, but then i saw markie here and knew i was saved.” 

“i’m still your hyung.” bickering with donghyuck came naturally, no anxiety, no overthinking, just donghyuck. mark finds it almost funny how after all these years, donghyuck can still make him feel the same way. 

now, mark would be lying if he said he didn’t have a huge annoying gay crush on donghyuck in high school, but mark trying to deal with his sexuality in high school was a hole of angst that was quite repressed in his brain. 

is mark surprised that the first time he sees donghyuck pretty much since graduation is at a pride festival? honestly, not really. donghyuck is commonly known as a antonym for subtle. if the constant talk of gdragon didn’t give it away, it was his obnoxious crush on a certain canadian that did. 

donghyuck never ended up confessing and because mark is a coward, he never said anything either. 

“this is the first time i’ve seen mark talk to someone for more than 30 seconds without calling them bro.” everyone in their little group turns to jungwoo at his abrupt statement. donghyuck bursts out into laughter which in turn makes everyone turn to him. 

“how did you turn into more of a het since i last saw you” mark gets flustered, like he always used to when hyuck would mention his sexuality, it was just something about him. 

“skill?” 

“that isn’t a good thing.” 

(“are you sure he’s straight?” jiwoo turned to jungwoo to quietly ask. 

“i have never seen him act like this before” was jungwoo’s reply) 

“well uhm i wanted to go get a drink and jiwoo has been complaining about needing to go to the bathroom for a while so we’ll leave you two to catch up for a while.” jungwoo, jiwoo and sooyoung, who didn’t even say anything about leaving, left quite quickly all together. mark wasn’t even bothered to question their behaviour. 

“so,, how is everyone? back home i mean.” mark left the suburban town they grew up in as soon as he left high school, his parents moved back to canada and he didn’t see the point of staying there. but he knew the donghyuck stayed there, at least for a couple years of college, what is instagram good for other than the occasional stalking checking on old friends? 

“i, well,” donghyuck became uncharacteristically quiet, “when i came out, they kinda uhm, kicked me out, so i’ve been living here for a year and a bit now, so… yeah.” 

oh, fuck.

“oh my god hyuck.” donghyuck was pulled into an embrace. after a while mark let go and started to wipe the donghyuck’s eyes. 

“for fucks sake mark i spent a lot of money on this makeup why did you have to go and make me cry?” mark laughed at his annoying tone, but he couldn’t help feeling guilty for not being there for him. 

logically, he knows he couldn’t have. he hadn’t been in contact with him since high school, but that didn’t stop the guilt. 

mark took his hand into his own and rubbed circles on hyuck’s palm, hoping that the little trick would calm him down like it used to. 

“you know i blame this all in you.” donghyuck suddenly said after having calmed down. 

“me?!? what did i do?!?” his voice got higher in defence at the accusations made against him. 

“you were my gay awakening, so therefore, you’re to blame.” the tanned male stated matter-of-factly, as if it was common knowledge. 

mark blushed, there is no getting used to donghyuck’s bluntness. 

“just because you somehow found my nerdy teen self attractive doesn’t mean i’m to blame.” donghyuck looked up at him curiously, almost trying to figure something out, before just asking. 

“you aren’t surprised?” mark was getting more red by the second, going from a red hue to a full tomato in the blink of an eye. 

“i kinda,, figured you liked me,” he rubbed his nape nervously before continuing on, “i mean, it’s not like i thought you had to like me or anything, it’s just, well- after how-“ 

mark stopped talking when he felt his hand, which was still holding donghyuck’s, get pulled. 

hyuck dragged him around for a while until they found an empty bench outside a cafe which was overlooking the parade. 

they stay silent for a while, just enjoying the parade from a distance. mark’s internal battle started, should he say something, apologise for assuming, apologise for not saying anything to him, confess his undying love, get on his knees and pray for forgivene- 

undying love?!? no no i just used to have a crush on him, those feelings are in the past and-mark’s train of thought got interrupted by his ex-crush, he highlighted in his head. 

“it’s fine that you knew, i mean i knew everything about you, and i guess this is you knowing me.” donghyuck’s attempt at being cheerful didn’t go unnoticed. 

“you never knew everything about me.” 

“i bet i still do.” 

“okay bet, who was my first kiss?” 

fuck, mark thinks, why did i say that. 

on the outside, mark seems very chill, not at all like he is about to come out for the very first time in his life. 

but it’s donghyuck.

“easy! kang seulgi in your freshman year, aka your first girlfriend.” donghyuck beamed at him, as if he wasn’t talking about the guy who he just admitted he used to have feelings for’s ex girlfriend. 

“wrong,” he looked up at mark, confused, “it was back in canada, with my best friend at the time, kevin.” 

and wow did mark feel good for being able to make the lee donghyuck speechless. 

“WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK MARK LEE!!” 

everyone in close proximity to the pair stared at them after donghyuck’s outbreak, the younger immediately went red and looked at his feet under the table. 

“so, you were just experimenting? in middle school? or was it for a game or something?” donghyuck started racking his head for ways to make this make sense, he didn’t know why mark would just bring this up out of nowhere and have never told hi-

“i’m gay donghyuck.”

to mark, it felt like a hundred billion thoughts and concerns, worries and troubles, were just lifted off his shoulders, chest, heart and literally any other place of significance on his body that he could think of. to donghyuck, well it’s pretty obvious how donghyuck felt just from his face. 

confused. 

after a couple moments of silence, which mark assumed was donghyuck trying to wrap his head around it, he finally spoke. 

“how did you know? have you told anyone yet? what about your parents? what ab-“ donghyuck stopped himself from rambling, this was an important moment to mark and he didn’t want to ruin it. 

“i think i’ve always known, like there wasn’t a real epiphany it just kind of made sense as i got older, like i haven’t ever told anyone, but my parents know, they kinda walked in on me and kevin but they’re chill with it.” as mark talked about the one thing he had never talked about before, he wondered if he too, had the stars in his eyes. 

“if you’ve never told anyone, why are you telling me? i mean i know i’m irresistible and charming but we haven’t seen each other in years.” donghyuck shifted closer to mark on the bench putting his hand on mark’s thigh. 

“you told me about your embarrassing feelings for me in high school, i figured it’s fair if i told you about mine.” he placed his hand over donghyuck’s, rubbing circles on it like he had done earlier. 

“okay for one, never said they were embarrassing, and two, are you trying to tell me in a weird emotionally constipated way that i could’ve just asked you out in high school and we could’ve been that one annoying, clingy couple that everyone hated.” the way donghyuck looked at him was like he was waiting to wake up and this all would’ve been a dream. 

“well i guess, i mean if you could’ve handled my teen angst and internalised homophobia.” mark chuckled at himself, before looking back at donghyuck and seeing how red he was. 

“i definitely would’ve, i would’ve jumped off a bridge if you’d asked me to back then.” donghyuck, still red as ever, leans closer in to face mark as he was talking. 

“back then, not anymore?” donghyuck, somehow, turned more red, which mark didn’t even think was humanly possible at that point. 

“when did you get so confident canada.” mark stared directly at donghyuck as the younger was speaking, his blush never fading, especially not after mark glanced down at his lips and made himself blush. 

“since i saw how red you are, pudu.” donghyuck wanted to snap back, tell mark that he was also blushing, but he couldn’t. instead he just stared. 

mark, for the first time in his life, let himself go. he let himself stare at donghyuck until it became awkward, except it didn’t. donghyuck didn’t let it. so mark let go again. 

“you know i take back what i said, your whole straight act is actually a skill.” mark just smirked and pulled the tanned boy into a kiss. 

for something that mark thought about for years, had /intense/ dreams about and hyped up in his own mind, he didn’t expect it to feel like what he had imagined. 

but it felt so much better. 

donghyuck froze for a few seconds before reciprocating the kiss, their kiss was almost shy, reflective of their younger selves. 

donghyuck wrapped his arms around mark’s neck, pulling him in even closer, the pair nearly on top of each other at this point. mark cupped donghyuck’s jaw but pulled away from the kiss with another smirk planted on his face. 

“so do you want me to continue being straight or-“

“nope never.” donghyuck pulled him into another kiss, this one could only be described as them making up for lost time. donghyuck practically situated himself in mark’s lap, not caring for the very public setting they were in, and let himself be engulfed by mark. 

mark licked donghyuck’s lips, and took the moment of surprise to enter his mouth. mark took his time to explore donghyuck’s mouth while his hands made their way to his waist. he was not going to waste this moment. 

they pulled away from each other to breathe, but mark quickly attached his lips to donghyuck’s jaw, kissing and sucking from jaw to neck. donghyuck bit his lip to stop himself from making any embarrassing sounds in such a public environment. 

“so all it took was one pretty boy.” mark detached himself from donghyuck’s neck to look at jungwoo who was walking over to them. 

“oh uhm, ah.” even though donghyuck had started to remove himself from mark’s lap, he held mark’s hand tight, and used his other hand to rub circles on it. 

“i’m, well, i’m not- uhh straight ?” it almost sounded like a question with the amount of anxiety laced underneath his words, however, he knew with donghyuck finally back with him, he could do anything. 

mark knew that this time, he definitely had stars in his eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> i haven't written like this in a while :// thank you to my sister for editing this for me even though she knows nothing about nct <333
> 
> also she hates me for writing 'the younger' so much
> 
> (talk to me on twitter @sujeongrose)


End file.
